Shooting Star
by FriendLey
Summary: "Legend has it if you star gaze long enough you'll see Tony Stark because with every second that passes, he's closer to earth, he's coming home." AU where Tony Stark doesn't make it back from Titan and he is presumed dead. Complete
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or any of its characters and lines from the movie used in this story. What is written here is for entertainment purposes only. I do not make any profits from it.**

 **A/N: Based on a tumblr post by van-dyne.**

Thomas huddles near the thrown-out boxes by the street. It's almost dark and the wind is picking up. He can't remember the last time he was warm.

Maybe when daddy put up a playhouse right in the backyard. Thomas remembers helping him pitch a tent, connect it to a tunnel, and then move some toys from his room to the playhouse. That was fun.

Thomas had played under the summer heat while dad roasted hotdogs nearby.

They ate the warm food and drank cold lemonade. They lay down on the grass, looked up at the sky, and guessed the shapes of clouds.

Dad told him about how mommy was up there. During the day, she'd look like clouds and watch Thomas play, and during the night, she'd look like the stars and watch him sleep.

Thomas remembers falling asleep, snuggled against daddy, and then waking up alone.

There was dust all over him and daddy was gone.

He wasn't in the yard. He wasn't in the house either.

So, Thomas went to the neighbor's house but nobody was in there. And he went to the next house over, and the next house, until he didn't know how to get back home and nobody seemed to want to help him.

People said that aliens came and did something bad, that they made daddy and everybody else disappear.

Thomas doesn't know what to believe, so he sits there by his boxes and looks up at the sky. Mommy's watching him, at least.

Sometimes people give him food. Sometimes, he goes hungry. Sometimes—

"You okay there?"

Thomas snaps out of his thoughts and looks at the big kid standing in front of him.

"What's your name?" the big kid asks. He's the first one to do so since Thomas lost daddy.

Thomas says his name but his voice sounds weird, like a whisper but also rough.

The big kid smiles and sits down beside Thomas.

"I'm Harley."

"Hi," says Thomas and smiling back. It feels weird to smile too.

"Where's your mom and dad?"

"Mom's up there," Thomas points to the sky, "And dad's… he's lost. I can't find him."

Harley nods and Thomas sees that he looks sad, like he lost someone too.

Thomas puts a hand on Harley's knee to get a look at him better. "Did you lose your daddy too?"

Harley shakes his head. "No, he left. But I lost my mom and my sister."

Thomas nods in understanding. Sometimes, people left, they go away all on their own. And sometimes, they get lost but not because they want to be.

"So you're alone like me," states Thomas.

"I guess I am."

Thomas pats Harley's knee. Daddy does that to him sometimes. "That's ok. You can stay with me. I've got boxes but not a lot of food."

Harley smiles kindly. "Yeah? I've got food but not a lot of boxes. Wanna share?"

Thomas grins widely and nods.

"Come on, follow me."

Harley helps Thomas carry a folded-up box and they go down the alley, cross the road, walk past the high water tank, and walk inside what looks to be a woodshed.

Harley turns on the light and Thomas finds that it's not a woodshed at all but some sort of playhouse for bid kids!

There's a car inside (how did it fit through the door?), there's a small refrigerator (Thomas bets there's chocolate inside), there are planets hanging on the ceiling, and other toys on shelves that Thomas doesn't know the name of.

"This is so cool!" he cries, delighted.

They put down the box and Thomas walks around the playhouse, careful not to touch anything.

"Where'd you get all these?"

"From a friend," said Harley, taking a couple sandwiches out of the fridge. "He's a mechanic."

He hands one to Thomas and Thomas feels his stomach rumble but not in that painful way it usually does.

He takes a bite and then another and another.

Harley has to remind him to slow down or else he'll puke it all back out.

Thomas shakes his head arguing that there's no way he's gonna throw up this food. It's so good! But he eats slowly, anyway, just to be sure.

Afterwards, Harley shows him the bathroom and Thomas takes a bath for the first time in a long time.

He gets a change of clothes, hot chocolate too, and Thomas is warmer than he's ever been!

When he's clean, he sits by the sofa, leafing over a book on stars that he found on the floor.

"You like stars, huh?" Harley asks, coming over to sit with him.

Thomas nods. "Daddy said when mommy died, she went up to the sky. She becomes a cloud during the day and a star during the night and watches over me."

"I like that."

"Do you think that's what happened to the people that got lost? Like daddy and your mommy and your sister?"

Harley looks at Thomas for a long while and then he finally says, "Do you know what happened that day?"

Thomas shakes his head. "They said aliens came but I don't believe it."

Harley chuckles. "Well, you better because they did. They came down in their ship, spreading fear and chaos."

"And then what happened?"

"Do you know who Iron Man is?"

Thomas nods vigorously. "He's the bravest superhero!"

"Well, Iron Man fought the aliens and he drove them back to outer space. But space works differently than Earth does. He couldn't find a way to get back and without him to protect us here, people started disappearing. The aliens took them, turned them to dust because Iron Man wasn't there to stop them. They say that if you look at the stars, if you don't blink and look at them long enough, you'll see Iron Man flying, zooming past like a shooting star, trying to find a way to get back to Earth. And when he does, so will your dad and my mom and my sister and everybody else that disappeared."

Thomas stands quickly and runs to the window, looking out to the sky.

He looks back at Harley, pouting. "It's not dark yet."

Harley chuckles. "It will be in a few hours. Why don't you sit by me and help me write a letter to my friend?"

But Thomas doesn't move from the spot. He continues to look at the sky.

The clouds are there and he thinks, _Mommy, please help Iron Man get home._

 **A/N: Next up we'll see how Pepper's doing.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or any of its characters and lines from the movie used in this story. What is written here is for entertainment purposes only. I do not make any profits from it.**

"I won't be home for dinner tonight. I know I said you guys can order anything, but I want you to please reconsider ordering pizza."

Pepper gives the teenager in the backseat a knowing look.

"But Thomas likes pizza," Harley argues, grinning at Thomas who is sitting beside him.

"Yeah!" pipes the boy. "Pepperoni's the best."

Pepper shakes her head endearingly at them and then turn her attention back to the road.

The government issued bodyguard/driver pulls the car over in front of the school and all three of them get out of the car.

"Pasta's good. It's healthy," suggested Pepper, holding Thomas' hand as they walk towards the building.

There is a scanner by the entrance and all three of them tap their government issued bracelets on it. It registers their names and their ID numbers.

Ever since the Dusting, the government has been keeping tabs on the country's population and is using the bracelets to keep an eye on it.

"We'll order a veggie pizza if health is your concern. Don't worry, Pepper. I'm not gonna let him eat candy for dinner."

Pepper's not too sure if he's serious due to the grin on his face. Tony would know. He knows Harley better.

She feels a certain pang of loss in her heart at the thought. He should be the one bringing these two boys to school.

Harley sees a friend and then turns to bid Pepper goodbye. He pats her protruding belly before taking off, laughing at something his friend said.

She wonders if her son will ever experience school like Harley, going off to do something naughty with his friends, play hooky, just normal student stuff.

She shakes the thought out of her head and turns to Thomas.

"Just you and me now,"

They both walk the long halls, reach the side of the building where the preschoolers are housed right next to the first grade classrooms. There are only three classrooms devoted to preschoolers where there used to be five.

They finally stop in front of Thomas' classroom.

"I'll see you when I get home."

"Bye, Pepper!"

"Bye, Tom Tom."

Thomas kisses her belly and disappears behind the door.

Pepper stays by one of the windows and watches him interact with his classmates.

She remembers the first time they met all those months ago. The boy peering at her from behind Harley with curious eyes.

Harley had written to her using one of Tony's encrypted lines asking for help regarding Thomas. He had originally wanted Thomas placed in foster care but Pepper had other ideas.

She took the two boys in her home. It had been empty without Tony or Happy, but with the kids… she doesn't feel as lonely as she did before.

Sure Rhodey visited, but it's different having someone to have breakfast with, having someone to care for.

She takes her time walking back to the car, observing the families bringing their kids to school. It's no longer uncommon to see seniors being dropped off at the doorstep of their classrooms, their parents wanting to make sure they're safe.

She doesn't blame them. She wonders how many of these kids lost siblings, parents, classmates. How many of them are orphans.

She gets in the backseat of the car and the chauffeur drives her to the Avengers compound.

…

Natasha Romanoff is there to greet her, giving her a hug…or what passes as one given the amount of stomach coming between them.

"When is the little guy coming out?" she asks as they walk to the conference room.

"Any day now."

Pepper rubs her stomach tiredly. She doesn't know if she's looking forward to the birth or wanting to delay it for as long as she can.

Rhodey is in the conference room speaking to the representatives of the UN.

Ross is still alive, unfortunately.

"Ah, Miss Potts. Shouldn't you be on bed rest? I heard you should take it easy given that you're due to pop at any moment." The way Ross eyes her stomach makes her want to throw up.

Pepper controls the urge to scowl at him. She hates that her pregnancy is being closely monitored by the UN.

"There are only about 8 people on Earth who can possibly figure out this alien mess and save us, Miss Potts. One of them's inside you," Ross had said to her 6 months ago.

Her lawyers had fought hard to stop the government from getting their hands on her and her baby. Rules and laws are arbitrary and when it's the end of the world, they are put aside for the 'greater good.'

Rhodey had thankfully managed to talk the UN off from keeping her on house arrest on the arrangement that she'd see the best doctors the USA has left to offer and any pertinent information shared to the overseeing UN panel.

The agreements are still ongoing which is why she's here right now.

"Oh, believe me. I thought about it. But like you said, Secretary Ross, world security takes precedence," she gives him an overly sweet smile she knows he'll see through.

She takes a seat beside Rhodey and without preamble, the talks begin again.

The UN wants the education of Pepper's child to be overseen by the United States government.

Pepper refuses. She can see Ross' fingerprints all over this and she'll be damned if she'll let _him_ plan her son's education.

But she's worked with enough people in government to know she can't possibly say _that._ Tony could probably get away with it, but not her.

And that's what she thinks about. Tony would never have Ross educate their child.

"I don't believe it would be wise for my son to be educated solely by the US government. The entire world is at stake and I think it be best to have him taught by teachers from countries all over."

Rhodey gives her a knowing look and she smiles at him. Ross will never agree to give up control of her son much less _share_ him with other countries, but the UN will find the solution quite fair.

As expected, Ross voices out his concerns, going as far as to insinuate that the child is United States property.

Natasha scowls at that. She rises from her seat and interrupts, "If I may offer a solution. Project Renaissance is being headed by Wakanda. Wouldn't it make more sense to have the child receive the best education from the most advanced country in the world? He would have access to the latest technology, he'll be under the guidance of Earth's smartest and brightest. It would be the ideal setting for him to learn in."

Wakanda.

Pepper exhales.

It's better than the original plan the government threw her way. Bruce is in Wakanda, working alongside an international team of geniuses and a raccoon. He and Queen Shuri can be trusted to ensure her son's wellbeing and happiness.

And Pepper would be allowed to visit. In fact, she could probably move to Wakanda and work from there. Ross wouldn't be able to touch her or her son.

Pepper finds herself nodding. "I find the idea agreeable."

Rhodey nods too. "Makes sense. And safety wouldn't be a concern given Wakanda's security."

Ross is glaring at Natasha but she is unfazed. She's dealt with far worse human beings than him.

In the end, they all take a vote and it swings in Pepper's favor.

The meeting adjourns shortly after and holograms of the representatives, including Ross', disappear.

Pepper exhales deeply and sits back in her seat. Meetings with Ross always run her ragged and far more stressed than her doctor likes.

Rhodey takes her hand. "I'm sorry. I maintain that it's disgusting and inhumane using a child like this. He hasn't even been born yet."

Pepper squeezes his hand. "It doesn't matter. I've already said yes." She sighs. "We all do things we wouldn't normally do to get our loved ones back."

It was the thought of her son working to bring Tony back that eventually led her to give in to the government.

"Pepper—"

"Once Tony gets back this will all become null and void anyway."

"Pepper, it's been months."

"I know that!" she snaps and she regrets it. Her temper's been short of late. Rhodey doesn't deserve it. "He's disappeared before, Jim. He's coming back. I have to believe it." Her fingers toy with the necklace she's wearing.

It's the one made from the shrapnel taken from Tony's heart. She thumbs it, lets the coolness of the jewelry ground her.

She knows it doesn't make sense but as long as she's wearing it, she feels like Tony's not dead yet, that he's alive and fighting his way back to her.

"Okay."

Pepper knows Rhodey's only giving up because the topic stresses her out.

"You staying for dinner, right? Bruce is flying in."

Pepper opens her mouth to respond but she cries out as pain as her stomach painfully contracts out of nowhere.

Natasha and Rhodey are by her side at once.

"It's nothing," Pepper waves off their concern after taking a breath. "It was just one of those Braxton Hicks. I'm fine."

"You forget that you're due this week," Natasha reminds her, already strapping a blood pressure pad around her arm. That was fast. Did she pull that out of her pocket?

" _Anytime_ this week. Could be _today_ ," added Rhodey, his eyes wide.

"I've been having them since last week. I'm fine."

"Okay. But you're not leaving here. We have doctors on call and they can do an emergency delivery if necessary."

Natasha seems to find her blood pressure acceptable because she doesn't say anything more.

Rhodey helps Pepper up to her feet and brings her to the common room.

"Have you decided on a name?" he asks to distract her.

Morgan is the first thing that comes to Pepper's mind. She used to dislike it; the name having reminded her too much of her weird uncle. But it was one of the last things Tony said to her.

 _Last night, I dreamt we had a kid. It was so real._

It will be, she thinks sadly. It'll be real and you're not even here to experience it with me.

Feeling an onslaught of tears, Pepper excuses herself and heads to the bathroom. She doesn't want Rhodey to see her crying.

Behind the bathroom door, she deeply breathes out and leans against the counter, one hand on her belly.

She rubs a hand on the lower side and takes a few calming breaths.

Tears trickle down her cheeks.

She shakes her head.

Crying is useless.

She thinks of all the things to look forward to: seeing the boys, letting Thomas read to the baby, maybe stargazing too if the clouds are cooperative, giving birth to Morgan, holding him, feeding him, reading to him, Tony coming home, him meeting Morgan, him teaching the kid all he needs to know.

The tears don't stop, however, and her stomach is not helping because it's cramping again. It takes painfully longer too.

She huffs and swipes the back of her hands over her cheeks. She gets a hold of herself and decides she might as well empty her bladder and talk to her friends outside instead of locking herself in the bathroom.

The blood stains she finds on her underwear make her feel a little woozy.

"Rhodey," she whispers and a few seconds later, he's pounding on the door. Friday must have alerted him.

"Pepper, what's going on!?"

Pepper stares at the blood. Is there supposed to be blood? Isn't it water?

"Pepper! I'm coming in!" It's Natasha. She opens the door, Rhodey's face appearing above her shoulder. He calms a little when he sees her sitting on the toilet.

Natasha sees the state of her underwear and quickly acts.

"Alert medical. She's in labor."

Rhodey disappears and Natasha helps Pepper put her underwear and pants back on.

"It's alright. This happens."

Pepper doesn't say anything. She's still seeing all that red.

They get inside the elevator and Natasha continues talking. "Friday's called your doctor. He's on his way."

Pepper nods and mumbles, "okay."

The doors open and a wheelchair waits for her. She sits and they wheel her away.

She doesn't know why she's in shock. She shouldn't be. She's read about this. She adopted two kids and living with them has been one big preparation. Oh my God, the kids!

She grabs Natasha's arm. "The boys!"

"I'll handle it don't worry."

They finally get her on a bed and when she stands, darker stains can be seen on the side of her pants. She grips Natasha's hand again.

"It's alright. That's just your water breaking, Miss Potts," says a nurse.

She changes into a gown and the nurses ask Natasha to get her walking around the room.

They take a while but Pepper is in no hurry.

"Natasha, I don't want any Suits in here. Just you and Rhodey. And the doctor and the nurses but no Suits."

No Ross. No agents. Nobody.

Natasha nods firmly. "Don't worry. They won't get past the bouncer."

Pepper feels a grin spreading on her face despite her racing heartbeat and probably blood pressure too. "Who is…?"

"Rhodes."

Of course. He loves Pepper but he wouldn't watch her give birth. There is a line drawn somewhere.

It takes a few hours to get Pepper dilated to the favorable centimeters her doctor wants her to have. And then it's back on the bed and the pain is excruciating.

She had refused drugs, wanting to feel pain instead of grief and longing. She's crying again and she doesn't know if it's from the hormones or the pain.

They start telling her to push and she tries but she doesn't have the strength. All she can think about is Ross coming and he's going to take away her baby.

Pain lances through her. This time she feels it in her chest... and she's scared.

"Push Pepper!"

She wants Tony.

"I want Tony," she says breathlessly to Natasha. "Where's Tony? He should be here."

Natasha looks at her like apologetically before her expression switches to a blank one.

"He's gonna be a little late."

Pepper whimpers. "I don't want to do this alone."

"You're not alone. You have Harley and Thomas and me and Rhodey and Bruce. Even Steve's waiting for news all the way in Wakanda. We're all here and we're rooting for you, Pepper."

Pepper's vision is blurry from the tears and she hears the doctor urging her to start pushing.

She shuts her eyes so tightly that she sees bright lights on the back of her eyelids. They all blink and converge together forming Tony's face.

 _I had a dream about it!_ _It was so real!_

She pushes.

It _is_ real.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or any of its characters and lines from the movie used in this story. What is written here is for entertainment purposes only. I do not make any profits from it.**

What Pepper's learned for the last three months since Morgan's birth is that Tony doesn't come.

There was a time when the world was ending, when Happy was crumbling to dust and Tony didn't come. She understood it then, he was trying to stop the world from ending after all.

Then, she found out she was pregnant and she had to battle stockholders, politicians, even the United Nations over their son and Tony wasn't around. He told her he might be a while. So, she waited.

But she gave birth and he didn't come. She juggles parenting a newborn, a six year-old, and a teenager by herself. Now it's been a year and Tony's nowhere to be seen.

She doesn't know if he was one of the victims of the Dusting or if he died out there. The fact is she doesn't know anything and she's done waiting.

She leaves her neck bare, the ruby necklace tucked away inside her jewelry drawer, but she keeps her engagement ring on.

She goes on working (from home for now), assists Project Renaissance with their requests, and she organizes memorial events for the Dusting.

She buries herself in work and family, people who are _there,_ and stops herself from looking at the sky every night.

Pepper tells herself she's been doing fine on her own, way before she's met Tony, way before she fell in love with him, and she's definitely done alright without him this past year.

...

And then Harley runs away.

...

It's the week before the Dusting, when emotions are high and everybody is reliving their grief, when Morgan is crying nonstop and leaves Pepper with very little sleep.

It's almost as if he's mourning right with them.

A board meeting via Skype had _just_ ended when Pepper received a message from one of Harley's teachers (the third one to call her this month), asking her to come to the school. Apparently, there was a shouting incident in the classroom.

"Is there something you want to tell me before I go in there?" Pepper asks Harley, one hand on the stroller where the three-month-old Morgan is sleeping.

They are outside his English teacher's classroom in school where Harley is seated on one of the chairs and Pepper is trying her hardest not to tap her foot in exasperation.

Harley shakes his head. "He'll tell you what he wants to tell you. Nothing I say will change things."

Pepper shuts her eyes and exhales. She remembers being similarly difficult as a teenager. No doubt this is karma.

She opens them again and says to Harley, "Okay then. Watch the baby."

Pepper knows Harley dislikes being left with the baby. He's only ever held Morgan once and that was when Natasha thrust the infant in his hands.

Sometimes Pepper catches Harley looking at Morgan, searching for something, and scowls when he can't find it.

Minutes with the baby is adequate punishment for his behavior, she thinks.

Harley frowns but says nothing.

The teacher greets Pepper when she enters.

"I appreciate you taking the time to see me despite what must be a hectic schedule. I'm Mr. Smithson, Harley's English teacher."

Pepper takes his hand and shakes it. "Hello." She takes her seat in one of the armchairs directly across from Mr. Smithson's table and gets right to business. "So, Harley shouted in class today?"

"Well, it's more than that. I wouldn't have called you in if he simply raised his voice. As you well know, next week is the first anniversary of the Dusting and the school is preparing an exhibit. A sort of _in_ _memoriam_."

Pepper nods. "Yes, I'm aware. My other son was talking about his project this morning, even asked Harley to help."

"Well, I gave the class the option to write about the Dusting as an extra credit for those who need it and Harley…"

Pepper sighs. "He didn't take to that idea at all, did he?"

Pepper remembers how Harley started acting out after Morgan's birth. Adjusting to a new sibling coupled with the memory of the Dusting hasn't made him any more agreeable.

Mr. Smithson nods. "Some kids react differently to trauma which is why I didn't require the class to write it. I gave it to them as an optional work. And Harley, he said something quite concerning. Now this isn't verbatim, but he exclaimed that the paper was a waste of time. When I told him that he didn't need to write it if he didn't want to, he added that that the whole thing's purpose of coming together as one community, of feeling solidarity, is all counter-intuitive seeing as it only serves to highlight one's losses and exacerbate the feeling of loneliness."

Pepper frowns and begins to feel a tightening in her throat. "He said that?"

Mr. Smithson nods apologetically and Pepper wants to tell him that it's not his fault. "Miss Potts, I know from Harley's file that he lost his mother and sister. But he _has_ gained two brothers and even a second mother in you. Perhaps, if you could talk to him and let him be aware that he isn't alone at all… it might help."

Pepper opens her mouth to respond but finds that she has no words. Harley feels lonely?

Whenever he would refuse to join her and Thomas on movie nights, whenever he would spend all his time out with his friends and not at home, whenever he would talk back to her, give her attitude—that was him being lonely?

"I thought he was just adjusting to the baby and you know, missing his mom and sister. I've been giving him space. I thought he wanted space. I would never have given him space if he felt lonely. I shouldn't have—"

"Miss Potts,"

"Huh?"

Mr. Smithson smiles kindly to her and Pepper feels like she doesn't deserve it. All this time she thought she was doing pretty well parenting all three kids given the circumstances, but it turns out she's only been _managing_ … and poorly at that.

"A lot of parents feel like they've failed their kids whenever they get called in for issues like this. If that's what you're feeling, I just want to say that you haven't failed him. In fact, he needs you more than ever, especially in the coming days. He doesn't know it, but he will."

She definitely feels inadequate as a parent, that's for sure.

Pepper blinks back the incoming tears—stupid, stupid hormones!—and nods. "Thank you, Mr. Smithson. I'll see what I can do short of handcuffing him to my side."

...

The ride back home is a quiet one. Harley keeps his eyes to the window, never once looking at Pepper's direction.

When they get inside the house, Harley murmurs, "I'll be in my room."

Pepper sharply turns but asks tentatively. "Harley? Stay for a minute?"

Harley stops and then slowly turns, his head bowed, refusing to meet her eyes.

Pepper folds her arms and says, "This has been going on for a while, hasn't it? I should have noticed it when I got the first report from your teacher, but I didn't. Harley, I'm so sorry that you feel the way you do. I'm sorry that I'm not being a very good mother—"

Harley's head perks up and he snaps, "You're not my mother!"

Pepper pressed her lips together, ignoring the prickling at the back of her eyes again. "No, of course not. I'm not your mother... But I am responsible for you. I care about you, Harley."

She ignores his snort and goes on, "The anniversary of the Dusting is coming up. Tensions and emotions are high. Harley, I know it's been a tough year. Believe me, I _know_."

Harley's face scrunches up. "No, you don't! I lost my entire family! What do you know?"

"I lost mine too," Pepper reminds him gently, "Everybody lost someone, Harley! That doesn't give you the—"

"So? You lost your family and what did you do? You took in two orphan boys because you were lonely and you wanted a distraction. But now you _have_ family again, you have Morgan, your _savior_." He motions at the newborn who is still sleeping in his stroller. "And what do me and Thomas have? You don't know what it feels like to be _alone!_ "

He turns and stomps off towards the stairs.

"Harley!"

He looks back at Pepper and, unable to stop himself, says, "You know, sometimes I look at the baby, pooping and eating and sleeping… and I think, this is the one who's going to bring everyone back?" He shakes his head. "Give or take 20 years. It's hopeless. My family's dead and Tony's not coming back. He left us. They left us."

He runs up the stairs and Pepper hears his bedroom door slam shut.

She blinks, the sounds of his footsteps up the stairs still echoing in her head.

"Pepper?"

Pepper turns and finds Thomas sitting up in the living room sofa, looking incredibly small and confused.

"Is Harley okay?"

Pepper glances up at the staircase and back to Thomas. "Yeah! I mean, no. No, he's not." She moves to sit beside Thomas. "He… he's a little upset because I think… he misses his mom and his sister very much."

Thomas nods because he understands missing someone. Then he lightens up. "I can ask him to help me with my project. It's gonna make him so happy! I'm thinking of doing a rocket."

Pepper smiles and ruffles Thomas' hair. "He's gonna love that. But maybe give him some time alone? He might still be in a bad mood."

Thomas pouts, but relents. "I'll ask him later."

Pepper kisses his head. "How about you help me prepare dinner? We can make Harley's favorite. That might cheer him up."

...

When Pepper knocks on Harley's bedroom door hours later, she receives no answer.

She attributes it to silent treatment and tries again.

"I'm coming in, okay?" she turns the knob and finds the room empty.

"Friday, where did Harley go?"

"He went out, boss."

"Did he say where?"

"No, boss."

Pepper sighs. That handcuff idea is starting to look pretty good right now.

…

 _I should have handcuffed him to my side!_ She screams internally.

"Friday, anything?"

It's midnight and Harley still hasn't come home. She's tried his phone and it's giving her the same silent treatment.

"Still no sign of him, boss." So, street cameras are out.

Pepper's fingers curl around her phone. "If you can't track his phone, track his watch. It's going to be emitting his vital signs to PopWatch. Hack into their database and triangulate the signal."

…

Friday locates Harley at Central Park of all places and Pepper drives as fast as she can.

He's standing under the shadow of a huge Iron Man statue. It was built as a memorial to commemorate Earth's greatest defender.

Harley hears her running (her heels don't make for a very good stealth mode) and he glances at her slowly before looking back at the statue.

"I believed in him," he says bitterly. His voice is loud enough for her to hear and hoarse enough for Pepper to get an idea of just how much tears and yells were spent. "I told Thomas he was coming back, at the time I was sure he would... so positive he'd return and fix everything. Because that's what he does. He's the mechanic. He fixes things. He was supposed to save the day, save everyone."

Pepper presses her lips together and shakes her head even though Harley can't see her. "He can't save everyone, Harley… Not even himself."

"Then he's not Earth's greatest defender."

Harley turns around and walks past her.

Pepper looks up at the statue and the same bitterness echoes inside her. She tells herself it isn't fair or rational to keep holding Tony responsible for everyone, for the world.

 _You could have at least been responsible for the loved ones you left behind._

She releases a deep breath and then follows Harley.

Back inside the car, she grasps Harley's hand and squeezes it. _You're not alone._

Then, she tells him what she tells herself whenever she feels so much hatred for the person she loves so much.

"Whatever happened, know that he tried his best fighting for what's right... That's all we ever hope to do."

They head back home.


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or any of its characters and lines from the movie used in this story. What is written here is for entertainment purposes only. I do not make any profits from it.**

Rhodey arrives one morning, carrying a paper bag.

"Hey!" Pepper greets him, slightly surprised by his visit. She kisses him on the cheek. "You didn't say you were coming."

He looks apologetic. "It was last minute." He glances up the stairs. "Are the boys here?"

"Harley's upstairs, Thomas and Morgan are asleep." They both start to walk towards the living room. "Can I get you anything?"

Rhodey waves her off. "I'm fine. I just…" They settle into the sofa and Rhodey looks at her with something akin to guilt.

"Is something wrong?" Pepper asks, worried now. What could possibly have happened to make Rhodey look like that? He won't even catch her eyes.

Rhodey wordlessly hands Pepper the bag he was carrying.

"What is—" She peeks inside the bag. There are pictures, a tennis ball, and a shirt. She takes out the pictures; they're of him and Tony back in MIT.

He finally looks at her.

"Those are Tony's. Or rather, they're the tangible memories that I have of him. I want you and the boys to have them."

Pepper swallows hard. "Rhodey, what's wrong?"

He leans over towards her and takes her hands. "Team Renaissance is going to make an announcement tonight. And I wanted to tell you before it hit the news."

A very familiar flicker of hope flashes in Pepper's eyes and he shuts her down before she could voice it out. "Not what you're thinking. But, they've finally succeeded on the Revengerspace ship. Tony's arc reactor tech really did it for Shuri." A beat. "I'm gonna fly it. Tonight."

Pepper released the breath she's been holding. First Tony, then Happy, now Rhodes. The people she cares about keep dying or disappearing or leaving.

And she should be happy! Because there's progress! They might find Tony in space, but somehow she doesn't want him to leave.

Because Rhodey might not come back. And she's not sure she can handle another loss.

"How long?" Pepper asks him, trying not to dwell too much on the negative. "How long will you be out there?" _so that I'll know what to say to your mother, in case you don't come back._

Rhodey shakes his head. "Honestly, there's no time frame."

"What do you mean?"

Rhodey scoots a little closer and lowers his voice. "Look, on paper it's a test run. But what it really is is a recon mission. We're gonna gather some space intel on Thanos and how to stop him, check out what's happening in other planets, put together an intergalactic team, whomever we can rally to our cause. If we're successful, I come back to get the others. But if we're not..."

 _Then you're most likely dead,_ Pepper thinks.

She swallows hard. "And what about Tony?"

Rhodey avoids her eyes again. "Pep—"

Anger rises in her and she pulls her hands away from his. "I thought you were gonna look for him!"

"Unfortunately, that's not the mission." Pepper looks ready to protest and Rhodey takes her hands back to calm her down. "Hey, listen, it's not _the_ mission, but it _is_ mine. _I'm_ going to look for him, Pepper…That is, if he's still out there for me to find. But I can't ask the rest of the team to run the same side-mission."

Pepper takes a few deep breaths.

That's fair, she decides. They all can't possibly ignore their main mission to look for one man who may or may not be alive.

"Okay."

They both rise at almost the same time and Pepper hugs Rhodey.

Her eyes begin to water. This might be the last time she sees him.

She never got to say goodbye to Tony. She wonders if it would hurt as much as this or worse.

"Be careful, okay?"

"I'll bring him home."

She notices that Rhodey doesn't mention coming back himself.

…

Months go by and there is no update on the Revenger ship.

Pepper tasks Friday into monitoring unusual space readings, alien reports, people suddenly disappearing or reappearing but so far… everything is quiet.

Until Friday reports a break-in in the workshop.

"Who is it?" is the first thing Pepper asks the butler.

Tony's workshop has been locked since he disappeared; nobody's stepped foot in there. The house is on 24/7 security by not just Friday but by the government as well. How someone managed to break in—even have the balls to do it—was someone she needed to know.

"Facial recognition on every known server is running, boss."

Pepper looks up, immediately thinking of the kids. All three of them are in the Game Room. She wills them to be fine.

But just in case…in case the intruder or the boys start to wander.

"Put the house on lockdown. Quietly. No need to scare anyone." Although Pepper's heart is pounding pretty loudly. "And on second thought, don't call this in. At least not yet."

If they called 911, Ross would be the right outside her door, beating the first responders to the scene.

Pepper's hands shake slightly and she curls them up by her sides. She thinks of running downstairs and confronting the person but also wanting to go up to the Game Room where she can watch the boys.

She decides to stay on her bed. She pushes aside the book she was reading when she got interrupted by the alert and trades it for her tablet.

She pulls up the security camera feed to the workshop. "How did he get in, Friday?"

There is a concerning pause from the AI.

"Source unknown."

Pepper's fingers still.

She looks up at the ceiling. "Say that again."

"The source of the break-in cannot be located. My systems register the sudden appearance at 13:05."

Pepper shakily turns to the video and positions the time marker a few seconds before the said time.

The video shows the workshop coldly empty like it's been for the past year. It's always bothered Pepper to see it unused, so barren and quiet. But it angers her more when at exactly 13:05, a young man materializes out of nowhere and begins to move around the place like he owns it.

She goes to the live feed where the young man—a boy, really, with a few years ahead of Harley—is now pointing a threatening finger at Dum-E who she supposes is trying to stop him.

 _Good boy._

Pepper puts the sound on.

"…make you into a bookshelf, I swear."

Dum-E advances with what sounds to Pepper as a threatening whine.

"What is wrong with you? It's like you don't know who I—" the boy breaks off suddenly like he's realized something.

"Oh, no, no, no, no," he shakes his head. "Friday?" he calls out tentatively, like he was unsure of what will answer him. "Or is it Jarvis?"

"Talk to him," Pepper orders.

She hears Friday in the feed say, "the former."

The boy visibly relaxes somewhat. "Good, good. What year is it?"

When Friday supplies him with the date, his lips turn down and he begins to shake his head more vigorously.

"Stupid, stupid, idiot! You went back _two decades?_ " He slaps a hand to his forehead. "Mom is gonna _kill_ you."

He takes something out of his pocket and fiddles with it. His whole body starts to glow from the inside out and to Pepper's awe his head begins to fade out of the workshop, followed by his chest, and then his arms.

Something must have gone wrong because the fading turns to blinking and then the boy disappears from his spot completely… and reappears in the space right on top of Dum-E.

He hits the robot and then falls down to the floor with a groan.

He curses.

Dum-E lets out a whine that could be—

"Are you laughing? I am _really_ going to turn you into a bookshelf when I come back."

The boy looks at the device in his hand again and murmurs something that only Tony Stark's high definition camera catches, "Don't panic. You're stuck in dad's workshop. You can fix this, Morgan."

…

Pepper's thought long and hard about what she was going to say to this "Morgan Stark."

She's thought of taking Baby Morgan down to the basement and shoving him in Adult Morgan's face as if to say, " _This_ is Morgan Stark. Not you! Now, get the hell out!"

She's even thought of maybe taking a blaster and pointing it at him, but she felt nauseous at how alien the violence felt.

So, she decided to ask him who he really is and what he's doing in her house.

She goes down using the elevator shaft and she begins her silent walk up to him, the question on her lips.

But it all crumbles away upon seeing him head bent down over his gadget, seated on Tony's chair, working on Tony's table, looking and feeling like Tony Stark himself before he went to Aghanistan.

And instead of saying "Who are you?" she ends up saying, "Tony?"

Tony looks up.

And suddenly he's both Tony and not Tony.

Adult Morgan has dark reddish brown hair, which Pepper didn't notice in the video feed. His hair is long enough that it has formed bangs over his forehead, curling just above his eyebrows and around his ears the same way Tony's hair does when he grows it out.

Adult Morgan shoots to his feet at the sight of her, the surprised cry "Mom!" coming out of his lips.

She faintly registers it.

Adult Morgan is tall and lean. Taller than Tony, leaner than Tony. There are no bulging Thor-like muscles on his arms. No, these are the arms that have only carried school books, a heavy backpack, and maybe even a CPU but not dumbbells or heavy weights. His eyes are a bright green… like hers.

"Please, don't freak out," Adult Morgan says, holding his hands palms out to her. "I can explain."

"Explain!" Pepper says, "Now!"

"Okay, okay! Geez, you're still scary when you're mad." He points at the device that is currently open on Tony's worktable, its guts splayed out around it, and explains with so little breathing pause, "I was working on a time travel prototype for my senior thesis that sent me back twenty years into the past instead of twenty minutes. And now it's broken, so I'm trying to fix it so I can go back to _my_ time before future you finds out and flays my as—butt, my butt." As an afterthought, Adult Morgan adds again, "Please don't freak out. If it makes you feel better, this isn't really the worst thing you've caught me doing… or will catch me doing."

Pepper continues to stare at him. Her lips are parted slightly, from the shock or from his similarity to Tony, she doesn't know.

She doesn't even know if he's telling the truth! An idea occurs to her and she walks up to him, taking his hand, looking for the spot there that tells her he is who he is.

A crescent birthmark on his forearm confirms it.

He's Morgan Stark.

Adult Morgan seems to be oblivious to her thoughts because he just lets her examine him while he goes on saying, "Actually, it's a good thing you're here because I need your help. I need a stabling component. Mine fritzed out. Was probably just enough for one jump. Except I can't find any stabilizers in here. Do you know where dad kept them?"

The mention of his dad snaps Pepper out of her funk. Here are all the answers she needs.

"Your dad," she says slowly, trying not to get distracted by the green in his eyes, "does he come back?"

All the color drains from Morgan's face. He pulls his hand away from her grasp. He shakes his head.

Was that an answer?

"First law of time travel: don't say anything that can change the future." He turns away from her and starts rummaging through drawers, all the while muttering, "I'm so dead. I'm so dead."

Pepper desperately grabs the boy's arm and pulls him to her. He's as tall as her and will grow taller.

"You've lived through this. I need to know if Tony comes back."

"No, you don't. You don't need to know. My mom didn't know then, you shouldn't know now. Or you _will_ not know and ugh, nevermind. Forget the tenses."

Adult Morgan steps away again and Pepper feels the answers slipping away from her fingers.

Adult Morgan abandons Tony's drawers and now tasks Dum-E, who has calmed a little bit, to find the stabilizer while he moves on to the a box by the floor.

Pepper watches him search, still a little bit entranced by how he moves so much like Tony.

Baby Morgan looks nothing like Tony, what with his hair still red. But to see him grow up into… this.

But _this_ isn't her son. Or… he isn't yet… Her son is up in the Game Room. This boy right here isn't him.

And Baby Morgan needs his father.

"If I help you look for that stabilizer," Pepper notices Adult Morgan slows his search. "Will you at least tell me if Tony is alive?"

Adult Morgan slowly turns to look at her.

Pepper takes that as a good sign. "It's just a yes or no. It doesn't alter anything except my state of mind. I just need some closure." Her voice shakes a little when she asks, "Is he okay? Is he dead? Did he suffer?"

Adult Morgan drops his chin to his chest, sighs, and then shakes his head. "I'm sorry."

Pepper feels the last string of hope in her chest snap into two. She noiselessly gasps for air.

Adult Morgan's eyes widen and he takes her hand, places another on her back to support her.

"No, no, I don't mean it like that. I meant: I'm sorry but I still can't tell you." He winces when Pepper continues to take deep breaths. He rubs her back and tries to explain. "You don't understand where I'm coming from. I can tell you the latest phone we have in my time, who the President is, anything as long as it isn't remotely related to your life. But I can't tell you what happens to _you_ , how you survive the wait, the pain. I can't. Information I reveal related to you can directly affect the choices you make, you can remarry or kill yourself… I can't. I'm sorry, mom. I'm really sorry."

Pepper feels the absence of hope in the pit of her stomach paralyze her.

Adult Morgan leads her to the couch Tony has in a corner.

"I won't kill myself, you know," she says to him after a moment. "I would never do that."

Adult Morgan looks apologetic. "Can't take any chances."

Pepper looks at him, really looks at him. He looks sad, like he hates being the one to bring the news to her. How old is he? Twenty? To know so much, to have the power to change things, to take away pain, and yet he knows the responsibility he carries at such a young age.

She puts a hand on his cheek. "You turned out okay."

Adult Morgan nods, smiling. "I do. You did something right… or you're gonna."

Pepper smiles. She'll settle for that, at least.

"The stabilizers are in the box labeled Blueberries. He put them all in there after he kept asking me if I had seen black gooey things in shiny blue bottles lying around."

"Huh," Adult Morgan hums.

…

It doesn't take long for Adult Morgan to fix his time-travel device. It was a simple switch, after all. After successfully placing in the final screws of the device, he looks at her and smiles sadly.

"I really am sorry."

Pepper returns the sad smile. "Not your fault. It's just this… crazy world we live in. Does it become any less crazy in the future?"

Adult Morgan chuckles softly. "Not at all." He surprises her when he steps close to hug her tight.

And then he whispers in her ear, "There's a legend about dad in the future. They say if you star gaze long enough you'll see him trying to make his way back home... Keep looking at the stars, mom."

And then Pepper feels him go warm and she recognizes the familiar glow from the video feed.

She feels Adult Morgan slowly fade... but not the hope he's given back to her.


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or any of its characters and lines from the movie used in this story. What is written here is for entertainment purposes only. I do not make any profits from it.**

Iron Man stands tall and proud, the gold and red coat twinkling at Morgan from where he stands. His glowing eye slits, which cause some to tremble, do not faze the toddler, but instead produce a delighted cry from him.

"Papa!"

Morgan squirms in his stroller, making grabby hand gestures at the full sized Iron Man statue on display right outside the toy store.

A genuine smile graces Pepper's features and her hand unconsciously flies to the ruby necklace that's back around her neck.

Adult Morgan's visit from the future, aside from giving Pepper the hope she's lost, had also managed to nudge the single mom in the direction she's been avoiding—finally introducing Morgan to his dad.

She hadn't exposed him to any pictures of Tony prior to Adult Morgan's visit, wanting the man to be there himself to do it. But somehow meeting Adult Morgan made her realize how unfair it would be for her son to grow up without the spirit of Tony around him.

Just because Tony isn't around doesn't mean Morgan shouldn't have a dad to look up to. "Yes, that's Papa."

Thomas rounds the stroller and crouches in front of the younger boy. "My daddy's up in heaven, Morgan." He points to the ceiling, "But Iron Man will bring him home!"

Morgan squirms, babbling, "Out, out"

At 1 and 11 months, Morgan had a few words in his vocabulary.

"Pepper, he wants out."

Pepper sighs half-heartedly. They're out Christmas shopping in the mall and she's had to confine Morgan in his stroller twice to prevent him from wandering.

He's already wandered into Victoria's Secret.

Pepper would have blamed that incident on Tony but without him around she teasingly looks to Harley instead.

She allows Thomas to unbuckle Morgan and help him out of the stroller.

Morgan marches up to straight to Iron Man, looking up at the statue three times his height.

The look of awe on Morgan's face does it for Pepper. That's it. When she gets home, she's going to have Friday control an Iron Man suit and have it walk around the house.

Maybe Morgan will listen to it more than he does her.

Harley suddenly comes running out of the toy store, calling Thomas about something cool he needs to see.

The two of them run back inside while Pepper is left with Morgan who is trying to reach Iron Man's hand.

Pepper decides to help him out, giving him a little boost to take the gauntlet in his tiny hand.

"Papa," Morgan says again.

Pepper's reply falls short as a series of screams erupt around the mall.

She whips around, clutching Morgan to her chest.

All around her, dust is materializing and people are beginning to panic.

Dust appearing out of nowhere is never a good sign.

The first thing Pepper thinks is Team Renaissance fudged something up in space. Their last communication was about the team moving in on a possible location. Could it be that they went up against Thanos and in retaliation, the alien had done another Dusting? As if wiping out half of the universe wasn't good enough and they were now going to be saddled with only a quarter?

A hand on her shoulder breaks Pepper out of her thoughts.

She jerks herself away, flashing the owner of the hand a dangerous glare.

The man puts his hands up immediately, a calming gesture. "Miss Potts, we need to move."

Pepper relaxes. It's only Smithson, the bodyguard/driver the state provided for her protection… or rather for Morgan's.

"Harley and Thomas," says Pepper.

Smithson doesn't look too pleased at the idea of leaving her but he makes it quick and in a minute, comes out with the two boys in either hand.

"Pepper! Pepper!" Thomas is scared and thankfully Harley takes care of him.

Smithson begins to move, leading them towards the entrance. They snake around the combination of people with the same idea to leave and the dust still materializing around them.

Pepper wants to ask the man where he's taking them, if the government has some protocol for this. She wants to tell him that running away won't change things, that if Thanos snapped his fingers again and they happened to be the unlucky victims, running was useless.

But she doesn't because she knows she shouldn't panic, not in front of the children at least.

They finally reached the exit when an arm pokes out of the dust.

Pepper screams and so does Morgan.

"Wait!" cries Harley. He pries his hand away from Smithson and inspects the dust and the arm.

Slowly, a shoulder appears.

Pepper looks back and around them, the dust are gathering together, forming limbs and heads.

It isn't a Dusting, she realizes. Or maybe it is, but it's one in reverse.

"Pepper, they're coming back!" Harley cries. "They're coming back!"

The same words start echoing around the mall; people stop panicking and instead they look on, watching half of the Earth's population return.

…

Happy Hogan was pacing in the kitchen when Pepper and the boys got home.

"Oh, thank God, you're here! FRIDAY wouldn't let me leave!"

"Happy!"

Pepper launches herself at her old friend, knees giving in at the last second. Never could she have prepared herself enough to see him back.

And the persistent thought at the back of her mind— "Tony! Where is he?"

Happy shakes his head. "He wasn't where I was. But I could've missed him. Honestly, there were so many of us in there."

"Pepper!" Harley impatiently cuts in. "My mom and my sister!"

"Right!" Pepper gives Happy a quick kiss on the cheek. "I miss you, Happy, but we'll celebrate later. Right now, we have to reunite these boys with their parents."

"Mama!"

Morgan is still crying and Pepper takes him from Smithson's arms.

"Is that—"

"Morgan, Happy. Happy, Morgan. I'll explain later. Friday, locate Thomas' dad and Harley's family."

It takes a few days to find the people in question. For one thing, people didn't reappear exactly right where they disappeared. And for another, everybody was busy trying to find everybody.

But Stark Industries' satellite images located Thomas' dad in Jersey and Harley's mom and sister right outside Tennessee.

It was an early Christmas on the second day of December when every person that disappeared came back.

Every one except Tony Stark and Team Renaissance.

…

Pepper wonders if they're dead.

After all, it's impossible to come back from the dead than to come back from the Other World that Happy told her about.

Harley tells her not to give up.

"Maybe they're just late," he says.

…

Three months later, Thomas and Harley are moving out.

As they should. They're no longer Pepper's children; they have their families back, but it pains her a little to see them go.

It took a while with Pepper having to go through the legalities of returning them to their parents' custody.

They spend their last night out by the poolside in the patio. A giant tent is pitched up on one side while Happy and Thomas are by the grill roasting smores, marshmallows, and hotdogs.

"Stoy time! Stoy time!" Morgan begs Harley who pulls the two year-old off his lap.

"Later. Before night-night."

"Night-night?" asks Morgan.

"Later," Harley replies. "Marshmallows first."

They bother Happy next, with Thomas more than willing to give them half-cooked marshmallows.

Pepper brings out the drinks and reminds them, "Don't give him too much, Harley, or you'll be the one putting him to sleep."

"Well, it's our last night here. I might as well."

Pepper smiles. "You and Thomas will be coming out here every summer, you know. It was one of the deals both of your parents and I talked about."

"Really?" Thomas asks, bouncing on the balls of his feet with a skewered hotdog in one hand.

"Careful with that. And yes, really."

"Yay! Did you hear that, Morgan? I'll be visiting this summer!"

Beside Pepper, Happy starts to chuckle.

"What are you laughing about?"

Happy shakes his head. "It's nothing."

"No, I want to know."

"Alright." He lets Harley take over the grill and moves closer to Pepper while watching the kids interact. "I was just imagining Tony coming home. Can you imagine the look on his face when he sees _three_ kids? He's gonna freak!" He starts chuckling again and Pepper joins him.

She remembers how hard it used to be to smile or laugh at the thought of Tony… But half the universe returned against all odds. She owes it to those people—not just Tony or to the team who most likely fought for that outcome—not to be sad or bitter about their survival.

Night-night arrives for Morgan and Harley sets him and Thomas up inside the tent for their favorite story.

Happy and Pepper stay outside, comfortably drinking wine while in the background, Harley narrates the boys' favorite Iron Man tale.

"…He snapped his fingers like this!" Pepper can hear a faint snap. "And you know what happened next? Lightning struck high in the sky hitting the ground where the mean Thanos stood. And there was an earthquake, a loud _ruuuummmbbliiingg_ and the ground opened up and dust came out!"

"And so did daddy and your mom!"

"And everybody else! The dust went everywhere! To the mall, to the house, to the parking lot, and they slowly became human. And everyone shouted hooray! Because everyone who got lost was found again, like your dad and my mom, but nobody noticed one group of dust floating in the sky. It stayed there for a minute before going up, up, up into the air, straight up to the clouds, never to be seen again. You know what they say?"

"What?"

"That those were Iron Man's dust. He went back to space to get his suit so he can fly back down here, back to you Morgan."

There is a brief pause.

"Do you want to meet your daddy Morgan?" Harley gives him an answer to copy, "Yes!"

"Yes!"

Pepper looks at Happy to see him sporting the same watery eyes she is.

"You want to see him Morgan? Yes!"

"Yes!"

They hear scrambling and the tent flap opens. Harley has Morgan on his hip with one hand and with another he points at the sky.

"Look right there Morgan! Look at the stars!"

"Stars!" says the toddler.

"That's daddy! That's Papa!"

"Papa?"

"Yeeaah," says Harley, "He's a little tiny right now because he's far away. But he'll grow bigger, you'll see. Just wait and see."

…

"You didn't have to do that, you know," Pepper says to Harley when they're putting the leftover food inside the refrigerator.

"Do what?"

"Tell Morgan a story about Tony coming back. He might not."

Harley silently looks at the plate of hotdogs in his hand. Pepper thinks he might be thinking of what to say.

Then, he puts them in the fridge and then turns to Pepper.

"I was mad at him. I was so mad at him for a long time," Harley confesses, his eyes wide and blinking as he tries to stop the tears from coming. Pepper feels her heart ache. She understants the pain and anger, along with the guilt of realizing that Tony really did save them in the end.

"I know he might be dead. But he was a dad to me when my dad wasn't. And you were a mom— _are_ a mom to me, a second one. You guys are my family and that includes Morgan." He wipes a tear across his cheek. "I'll be here to give him some awesome dad stories until he's old enough to look for them himself. And there's a lot of them on YouTube, by the way."

Pepper laughs.

"Who knows? The world might not need Morgan anymore now that everyone's back, but maybe when he grows up… maybe he goes out there and he looks for Tony and… maybe he finds him and brings him back."

Pepper presses her lips together and nods. "That's a wonderful future to hope for."

She hugs Harley and lets her forehead rest on his shoulder because this kid is just too tall for her now.

Adult Morgan's words ring in her head. _Keep looking at the stars, mom._

Maybe the answers do lie up there.

…

It is the sound of thrusters that wake Pepper up. She doesn't even have time to figure out what the hell is going on when the sound is followed by a deafening wave of loud engines that begin to die down.

But even amidst the noise, Pepper can still hear Morgan's cries at having been woken up by the sudden, scary sound.

She angrily rises from the reclining chair, about to give the source of the commotion a piece of her mind.

Happy is rising as well and the hair sticking out of his head from different angles tell her that he's upset at being awakened too.

The sound is gone now and there is nothing on the patio where they are, no sign of whatever the hell that was that interrupted their sleep.

Harley is rubbing his eyes as he comes out of the tent, eyes scanning the sky for something to explain what happened.

Pepper is torn between investigating the noise and comforting Morgan. She chooses the latter seeing as three boys were already doing the former job.

She crawls inside the tent and takes Morgan in her arms, resting his head on the space between her shoulder and her neck.

She pats his back, humming him a relaxing song.

It takes a little dancing around the tent, but Morgan slowly falls back to sleep, hands snug around Pepper's neck.

"Uh, Pepper!"

Pepper closes her eyes and scowls. She really needs to teach Happy what volume to use when a kid was asleep.

This time it's Harley who shouts. "Pepper!"

Pepper tiredly goes out of the tent, brows knit together. "What?" she hissed at the three of them who was staring at something behind her. "Morgan is asleep! And you know how cranky he gets when he—"

Pepper had turned around mid-lecture and found herself staring as well, the words stuck in her throat.

Tony stood there right in the doorway connecting the living room and the patio. He isn't wearing his suit, just some plain, dark, loose shirt and baggy pants.

He walks towards them and up close Pepper can see that his jaw is clean-shaven, his hair is slightly salt-and-pepper instead of the dark chestnut brown he dyes it on a regular basis to hide the silver, and his arm is… his left arm is gone.

And faced with all of that, the first thing Pepper says to him is, "You're late." The feeling of Morgan in her arms gives her strength and she goes on, takes one step forward, "Do you have any idea what time of the night it is? What _year?_ _Who_ you woke up?!"

"I—"

"No!" She hisses, cutting him off. Honestly, Pepper isn't even sure why she's angry but that was what came out of her mouth so she's sticking with it. "I'm doing the talking. I waited for you."

"In my defense space travel isn't as efficient as normal travel—"

"—crying and then pining—"

"—we didn't think it'd take months to get home—"

"—fighting Ross, protecting your son—"

"—and speaking of son, yes, I do see a little something going on. _Three_ somethings."

Pepper narrows her eyes at him and Tony smirks a little.

Pepper is unimpressed by that, like she used to be, and she raises a brow.

Tony concedes, like always. His shoulders sag and she can see his chin wrinkle with worry and _damn right_ there's a little guilt in there too.

"What do you want me to say? _'Honey, I'm home?'"_

Pepper feels the words stuck in her throat again and she gasps out, "Yes! Yes!" And in one giant stride, Tony has her around one arm, Morgan between them.

Pepper is trying not to cry because she'll wake Morgan up but she fails and she's crying, albeit in silent choked sobs.

She feels Tony press his lips to her head and then murmur, "I'm sorry I'm late. I'm sorry I left. I'm sorry about a lot of things."

Pepper sniffs and pulls back slightly. "Not your fault. I'm just so relieved you're alive." She looks at his stump. "You don't have your arm."

"It's a long story."

Morgan chooses that moment to make a fuss, whining a little bit as he adjusts himself in his mother's arms.

Tony turns an inquiring look at Pepper. "And who's this?"

"Morgan."

"Morgan?" There's a knowing look on his face.

"I told you I was pining."

Normally Pepper wouldn't wake her son but she supposes today is an exception. She passes Morgan to Tony, helping him carry the kid with one arm. Thankfully, the toddler is too sleepy to even register the fact that he's being carried by another person.

He goes right back to sleep, arms now around Tony's neck, head rested on his shoulder.

And Pepper breathes easy for the first time ever.

"Um, you should know something…"

"Is that Captain America?!" came Thomas' voice from across the pool.

Tony smiles sheepishly. "Is it okay that Rhodey and the gang are gonna crash in here for a while?"

Pepper looks behind Tony to see Steve, Bucky, Natasha, Rhodey, Bruce, and Sam standing awkwardly by the living room, watching their reunion.

"They're welcome anytime."

Tony gives her a genuine smile that makes his eyes crinkle at the tips and small tears spill out. "I'm so glad I'm home," he whispers.

Pepper knows there's a story still waiting to be told but she files that for the nights when it's just them... when he's ready to tell her everything he did out there with the stars for company.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading!**


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